Standard Operational Plans and Procedures for Maritime Search and Rescue in HNS Incidents

ChemSAR Newsletter August 2017

The ChemSAR project has now reached its halfway. The journey so far has taken hard work from our nine partner organisations in five countries. During this time, ChemSAR has achieved its first outcomes.

The partners have jointly created a draft for the standard operational procedures to be used in HNS incidents at sea. These have already been tested in tabletop exercises and lessons learnt have been taken into account in the development work.

The partners have also outlined the intended e-learning platform, contents of which will beformulated as other work packages progress. Thepartners have collected background informationfor the development of the chemical databankand different alternatives for the contents havebeen weighed up. The databank features were alsotested in the tabletop exercises. The tabletopexercises themselves involved not only project

ChemSAR on Its Way to Improve Maritime Safety

Splash!ChemSAR

partners but also experts from other stake-holder organisations, such as Tallink, Estonian Maritime Academy, SYKE and EMSA.

ChemSAR has gained exceptionally lot of publicity all over the Baltic Sea Region and beyond. We have organised a joint discussion event in Brussels for decision makers, hosted a visit of Commissioners in Helsinki and a workshop in the European Maritime Day in Poole, UK (with three other projects).

The next steps ChemSAR is taking are a joint workshop with EMSA chemical experts and HAZARD project taking place in August in Lisbon, 5th partner meeting in September in Klaipeda, and the planning and execution of a simulator exercise in October in Tallinn to test the further developed SOPs.

The first ChemSAR Splash! is now at your disposal. Please enjoy our highlights.

Photo: Mariikka Whiteman

Main Results• More efficient rescue operations at sea• Enchanced transnational co-operation• Increased capacity and competence of the

maritime actors

BeneficiariesRescue authorities, Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres, rescue units, shipping companies, passengers, SAR training academies, coastal inhabitants and environmental authorites

ChemSAR project creates uniform operational plans and standard operational procedures to save human lives in maritime hazardous and noxious substances incidents.

Partners:

Standard Operational Plans and Procedures for Maritime Search and Rescue in HNS Incidents

Vice-President of the European Commission Jyrki Katainen and Commissioner of Regional Policies Corina Creţu visited ChemSAR project on 1st June 2017 in Helsinki. The visit was hosted by the Finnish Border Guard and it took place on board the Finnish Border Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel Uisko.

ChemSAR Project’s Afternoon as an Interreg Ambassador1 June 2017 Helsinki

During the visit OPV Uisko made a short trip outside Helsinki showing the commissioners, their delegate and the international press the beautiful archipelago outside of Helsinki.

The aim of the visit was to inform the commission representatives about the targets and benefits of the ChemSAR project, and how it will improve the international rescue operations at sea. The visit also entailed demonstration of the operations on board OPV Uisko.

Commissioner Creţu stressed the value of the project for sea safety and protection of the environment. The whole delegate was pleased to see how the strategy for the Baltic Sea Region is implemented in practice.

– We are so pleased to see that the European Commission is interested in ChemSAR. It tells us that what we do in the project is useful and important, says Project Coordinator Kirsi Laitio from the Centre for Maritime Studies.>> Read more

Photo: Kirsi Laitio

More ChemSAR stories:

Website: blogit.utu.fi/chemsarFacebook: www.facebook.com/chemsarprojectTwitter: @ChemsarProject

Standard Operational Plans and Procedures for Maritime Search and Rescue in HNS Incidents

Blackout, Dangerous Cargo Leak and Injured Crew MembersFirst Outputs in Test in a Tabletop Exercise in Tallinn6–8 June 2017 Tallinn

The captain of M/V Regal Star faced a tricky and dangerous situation en route from Tallinn to Kapellskär. He received a toxic vapor alarm from the car deck, suddenly lost all power on board and also had some injured crew members who had been fighting the toxic spill. Luckily this was just ChemSAR testing its first outputs in tabletop exercises run at the Estonian Maritime Academy in Tallinn on 6th-8th June.

The aim of the exercise was to test the the standard operational procedures (SOPs) so far created in the project. Other aims were to practice identifying the HNS and Hazard evaluations, HNS SAR response, co-operation between rescue centers and exchange of the SAR responsibility, and the conduct of SAR and MRO operation in accordance with IMO and ICAO regulations. The aim was also to test co- operation between national and international authorities involved in rescue operations.

Participants - role players, evaluators and observers

In addition to the project partners, experts from other rescue organisations were participating and playing a role.  The role players came from Estonian Police and Border Guard, Finnish Border Guard, Swedish Coast Guard, Tallink and Helsinki City Rescue Department.

Novia University of Applied Sciences acted as the moderator of the exercise and the Swedish Coast Guard evaluated the exercise. The role players had a possibility to use chemical experts from the Finnish Environmental Institute and Hamburg Fire and

Rescue Service/Analytical Task Force present at the exercise.

During the exercise, needed information on the involved chemicals was asked from the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) according to the set protocol, i.e., through their Finnish contact point Ms. Heli Haapasaari, who then contacted EMSA’s chemical expert. This proved to be a valuable exercise and experience for both, the project and EMSA.

Other project partners and visitors from the HAZARD project had the opportunity to follow the exercise as observers. This is a good way to exchange knowledge and experience between projects.

Having common SOPs made a difference

In the first exercise of the day, the SOPs so far developed in ChemSAR especially for incidents involving HNS were not followed that well. However, in the second exercise, the role players applied them more carefully. This had a tangible impact on the progress of the exercise: the rescue operation ran quicker and smoother as everyone knew how to act in such an incident. In addition to the obvious benefits of having an international joint exercise, the players also demonstrated the advantages of using common SOPs – though drafts – and how they can make rescue operations more efficient.>> Read more

Photo: Päivi Söderholm

Photo: Päivi Söderholm

Standard Operational Plans and Procedures for Maritime Search and Rescue in HNS Incidents

The Joint Workshop at EMD 2017: Important to Openly Share the Achieved Project Outputs18 May 2017 Poole

Maritime safety and security were the main topics at the European Maritime Day 2017. ChemSAR contributed to the theme by co-organizing a work-shop on Preparedness at Sea, focusing especially on the developing and sharing of practices for vessels engaged in emergency situations at sea, and on how the results from the various projects could be used to enhance cooperation, knowledge and understanding in the future.

The chief outcome of the panel discussion held was that all the outputs from the work implemented in different projects should be available for others to access and also to contribute to. The panel was unanimous on this.>> Read more

Preparedness for HNS Incidents under Discussion in Hamburg11–12 May 2017 Hamburg

Three flagship projects – ChemSAR, HAZARD and Dive SMART Baltic – joined forces to jointly discuss how the preparedness for HNS incidents could be improved in the Baltic Sea area. Dr. Regina Dube from the hosting organization, Ministry of Environment and Energy in Hamburg, opened the workshop.

ChemSAR hosted a joint workshop on “HNS related incident at sea – first response and communication”. The workshop concentrated on a ChemSAR project related topic, i.e., on the creation of standard operational procedures for SAR operations in HNS incidents in the Baltic Sea area. The aim of this individual workshop was to induce wider discussion

Safety Culture and Inadequate Co- operation Spoke to Participants in a Flagship Project Event26 April 2017 Brussels

Three EUSBSR Flagship projects, ChemSAR, HAZARD and Dive SMART Baltic – all of which involved in and contributing to the maritime and/or port safety and security –, organised an event to discuss current policy issues and their compliance in maritime and port safety and security. It took place on 26 April 2017 at Hotel Thon EU in Brussels.

The aim was to involve decision makers and representatives of operative organisations and companies to present their statements and generate exchange of views on the topic, naturally with the help of contributing expert audience. The event attracted altogether about sixty participants.>> Read more

ChemSAR ProjectDuration: 2016–2019Total Budget: 2.4 M€Co-financed by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region ProgrammeLead Partner: University of Turku, Centre for Maritime StudiesContact information and more facts: blogit.utu.fi/chemsar

and gain expert views for the development work also from professionals not directly involved in our project.>> Read more

Photo: Päivi Söderholm

Photo: Päivi Söderholm

Photo: Päivi Söderholm